With series wins in three of four Big South sets and an eye towards the top of the standings, Radford resumes conference action this weekend with a three-game home series against Presbyterian beginning on Friday night.
The Highlanders are among the hottest teams in the Big South, with wins in eight of their last 11 games entering the weekend. Following last weekend's 2-1 series win at Winthrop and other action around the conference, Radford is just a game behind first place Coastal Carolina and a half-game behind Liberty – Coastal and Liberty meet in a series that begins on Thursday night.
Radford tries to earn its third-straight conference series win when the Blue Hose come to town – the Highlanders are 3-0 against Presbyterian at home, with the last series meeting coming in May of 2010. Radford leads the all-time series 8-2, including a 7-2 mark against Presbyterian since it joined the Big South in 2009.
Lifting the Highlanders in league play has been the performance of its pitching staff – Radford has a conference-best 2.32 ERA in Big South games, while starters
Eddie Butler,
Tyler Costello and
Mark Peterson have posted a league ERA of 2.03 with a 7-2 combined record.
Butler, who picked up his second win in as many starts last week against Winthrop, tossed his first career complete game against Presbyterian on May 8, 2010, establishing a career-high with 10 strikeouts. Butler went eight frames in a win at PC last season.
WEEKEND NOTEBOOK
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Radford ranks second in NCAA Division I in fielding percentage, entering the week at .982 – Sacramento State also posted a .982 mark, but the Hornets have played more games and had more chances than the Highlanders
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Radford, Campbell and Liberty are the only three Big South teams with batting averages better than .290 and an ERA of less than 4.30
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Butler has allowed opponents to hit a league-low .205 off of him this season
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He is one of six Big South pitchers to toss two complete games in 2012
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Peterson has a conference-only ERA of 1.57, third overall and tops among starting pitchers
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Tyler Costello's streak of seven straight starts with a win came to a close last Friday, but he ranks ninth in the nation with his seven wins
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Costello's 1.95 ERA is 40th in the nation and third in the Big South (second among starters)
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Reigning Big South Player of the Week Jeff Kemp enters the weekend second in the league with 45 RBIs and eighth with a .349 average
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A single in the 11th inning at Virginia on Tuesday night extended Kemp's hitting streak to 12 games (24-for-51, .471)
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Matt Hillsinger's eight homers are second in the conference, and his 34 RBIs rank sixth
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Kemp and Hillsinger had eight hits each in the Winthrop series last weekend
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Radford catchers threw out three base runners on Tuesday night at Virginia – Daniel Wright, who started the game, had a pair early while Carl Travers, who entered as a late defensive replacement, had an important one with one out in the ninth inning to take the potential winning run off base
